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Nov. 25: Thumbs up, thumbs down

Nov 24 2012 6:00 pm Nov 25 8:59 am

Thumbs up

To One Table ­– Thousands turned out again this year for the annual Thanksgiving feast for the community in downtown Aiken. What a special event that truly brings all of us together. Thank you to all the volunteers who gave their time and money to make this event happen.

To the Chitlin' Strut – Once again the population of Salley exploded for one day for this annual festival that celebrates one of the more unusual Southern delights – chitterlings. Good job to all the people who made this annual event successful once again.

To lower gas prices – These came just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. Let's hope the trend continues through the holiday travel season.

To students finding a new planet – Two College of Charleston seniors have discovered a new planet. Analyzing photographic data from the Subaru telescope in Hawaii, Kozakis noticed a giant light shining closer in to the massive star kappa Andromedae than she had ever seen before. After months of monitoring and data crunching, she and Stevens confirmed that when the star moved, the light moved with it. The body wasn't a star in the sky background; it was orbiting the star. We think they deserve an A for that class.

To long-lost mail – A postcard mailed in 1943 finally arrived last week. The postcard was sent from Rockford, Ill., to two sisters in Elmira, N.Y. Their brother, George Leisenring, was stationed at Rockford's Medical Center Barracks at Camp Grant, an Army post during World War II. Their parents were visiting him when they mailed the postcard home. A different family lives in the house today. A postal official says the postcard may have been found by someone outside the postal service and placed in the mail.

To the holiday season – With Thanksgiving, the holiday season begin. It means a month to decorate, shop, bake and socialize. As cliche as it sounds, remember the reason for the season. Share what you have, don't overspend or overeat, reach our to family and friends.

To lower unemployment rates – South Carolina's jobless rate fell to its lowest rate in nearly four years in October. Aiken County benefitted, dropping from 8.2 percent in September to 7.3 percent. Let's hope the trend continues into the new year.

Thumbs down

To hackers – Slowly, South Carolina officials are getting to the bottom of how millions of private state tax records were compromised. Hackers were the likely culprits, according to reports released last week. They entered the system through a malicious email that at least one S.C. Department of Revenue unknowingly opened. The breach affected 3.8 million individual taxpayers, 1.9 million dependents, 699,900 businesses, 3.3 million bank accounts and 5,000 credit card accounts, all of which are now expired.

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